Thursday, September 08, 2011

So is there a sign-up sheet, or do you need my e-mail?

Smitty at The Other McCain wants out of Social Security, and so do I. I would rather keep that part of my paycheck, money that I earned, that I will NEVER SEE AGAIN, and invest or spend it as I see fit.

Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I've got another, what, four decades until I'm "retirement age". I like to think I'm a pretty smart cookie. I like to think I can learn from history, and I like to think I can guess at least some of what's going down in those four decades. Therefore, I don't think of being "ready for retirement" in terms of "I need to save up this much money". Oh, no. No no no. I'm beginning to think in terms of "Let's get my life squared away now, so I don't have to worry about big adjustments at arbitrary societal milestones." First thing, I have to focus on paying off my outstanding debt. And that would happen faster if I didn't have $80 a month taken from my wages for someone else to live on, with the promise that "No, don't worry, you'll get it back, we're totally good for it." I have better things I could do with that money. Grrrrrrrr.